Improve Your Love Luck with Feng Shui!

Are you tired of looking for love without success? If so, the layout, furnishings, and energy of your home and bedroom could be part of the problem. When the areas of your home affecting your love life are cluttered, missing from your floor plan, or suffering from sha chi (harmful energy) it can be difficult to find and maintain a good relationship.

A key principle of feng shui is that everything is connected energetically. This means that your thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by your surroundings. A dark, untidy bedroom contributes to an atmosphere of fatigue and depression, which in turn makes it harder for you to find the energy to clean the place up. In feng shui terms, it also undermines your ability to attract and maintain a joyful and fulfilling romantic attachment. Feng shui problems can even affect your reputation, make it harder to meet new people, and lead to increased arguments and miscommunication -- all of which contribute to difficulties in your love life.

Improving your love luck with feng shui starts with understanding that attracting a partner is only part of the solution. For example, if a serious relationship has recently ended, you may need a period of healing and self-reflection before starting to date again, no matter how eager you are to connect with your next partner. Maybe you have no trouble finding dates, but can't seem to meet the right kind of person. Or perhaps you're seeing someone exclusively, but seem to be stuck just short of commitment.

Here are some quick ways you can apply basic feng shui principles to increase your chances of success in various stages of the relationship cycle:

When you need to recover from a break-up before moving on, your key task is to let go of the old relationship and reconnect with who you are as an individual. In feng shui terms, relics from past relationships - such as photographs, clothes, and mementos - hold you in the past. The stronger that old energy is, the harder it will be to move on to someone new. Remove anything that reminds you of a past failed relationship from your bedroom. This includes things that are out of sight in your closet, a dresser drawer, or under the bed. Pillows, mattresses, and bedding absorb your energy over time, so when a marriage or live-in relationship ends, it's a good idea to buy new sheets and pillows and even a new mattress if you can afford it, to help you make a fresh start. New bedding is also a good idea if you have been single and lonely for a long time. Pamper yourself during this stage, and try to do at least one thing every day just because it makes you happy.

When you are actively looking for a partner, your key task is to create space for a new romance. If your closets, dresser drawers, and bathroom shelves are filled up with your own stuff, there is no room on an energetic level for someone new to come in. That's why the best way to attract a new romance is to literally make space for it. Empty out at least one dresser drawer for your next partner's clothes. Make space in the closet, in the bathroom cabinet, and on bookcase shelves. Start with your bedroom, then move on to the rest of the house. Is there room for another person's DVDs and music in your CD rack? Where will your new sweetheart put his or her health supplements, exercise gear, notebook computer? Is there room for another car in your garage, or have you filled that space up with stuff? Make a list of all the areas of your home where your new partner might need some space, and try to free up at least 25 percent of it. If you can't clear 25 percent of the relevant spaces, just do the best you can; your strong intention to create room for a new relationship is the most important factor. When you do connect with your new love, you can look for a more spacious residence together!

When you have met a "likely prospect" and want to nurture that new relationship, your key task is to ensure that your bedroom supports romance. This is a good time to get rid of any clutter blocking the path from the front door of your home to the door of your bedroom. This will help keep the energy in your bedroom fresh and strong. In feng shui, the symbolism of what we see is very important, so make sure your bedroom says "romance" in some way. Focus on these areas: 1) what you first see when you enter the bedroom; 2) the wall across from the foot of the bed; 3) the relationship area of the room (the right-hand corner on the side of the room opposite the door, and/or the SW sector). Just about anything that means romance to you can be appropriate feng shui imagery for your bedroom. Traditional romantic symbols such as hearts, cupids, and pictures of happy couples always work well, as does a faceted feng shui crystal hung in the relationship area or over your bed. Look for opportunities to group objects in pairs, such as placing two pink or red candles or a bud vase with two red silk roses on your bedside table. Pale green is also a good color for new romance.

Although these simple steps are just a few of the many ways you can use feng shui to improve your love luck, they will do a lot to shift the energy of your home. As your environment becomes more welcoming to romance, your own energy will shift as a result. When you are clear in your heart about the kind of love you want, and take action to welcome it into your home, your dream of lasting happiness with a wonderful partner really can come true.

Stephanie Roberts is the author of "Fast Feng Shui for Singles: 108 Ways to Heal Your Home and Attract Romance", now available in ebook format at http://www.fengshuiebooks.com and in paperback at Amazon.com or your local bookseller. For more feng shui tips and information, please visit Stephanie's feng shui website at http://www.fastfengshui.com.

Designer Style Without The Price Tag Using Feng Shui

The ancient art of Feng Shui teaches you to correctly place items in a room to maximize it's aesthetic appeal, balance, and harmony.

The end result when you have applied simple Feng Shui rules is more often than not comparable to the finished product of custom interior design work. If you want to give your home a designer look without the designer price tag associated with a professional consulant or indeed if you feel you lack the 'creative flair' necessary, let Feng Shui help.

With a few simple and affordable changes to your home - it will look and feel as serene and pleasant as possible.

As Feng Shui is as much about the positioning of items as it is about what kinds of objects you have, it is easy to give your home a makeover without investing bucket-loads of cash on new pieces of furniture or other highly expensive items. Feng shui will help you make the most of what you already have for the maximum 'WoW' factor.

Your home will be more ordered, more balanced, and more beautiful due to your time and effort rather than the outside influence of an expensive designer. It just takes a little bit of creative thinking and you can make Feng Shui work just by imagining how you can use and place the items you have already.

There are items you can purchase to enhance the attraction of positive chi into your home-life, such as plants, mirrors, wind-chimes etc... but these are inexpensive on the whole which means you will not need to raid your savings nest egg to make a big difference.

There are some aesthetic problems Feng Shui cannot resolve.

This is because practical feng shui is primarily about the arrangement of items and furniture, whereas many design problem spots in a home are due to the underlying architecture. However, there are remedies at your disposal to help minimise any such architectural issues.

If you have a room that feels small and cramped due to architectural 'features' like low ceilings and/or tiny windows, Feng Shui can help create strong visual lines making the room feel lighter and airier. Feng shui can also teach you practical methods to install multidirectional light sources in the space - this will help lighten the area without feeling you are being interrogated!

No matter what built in problems the design of your room may have, Feng Shui can help you mitigate the resultant issues so your home will have the look and feel of the designer touch.designers.

Feng Shui provides inexpensive, pragmatic solutions to interior design.

Give yourself the the designer treatment - without the expensive price tag!

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: www.fengshuiastrology.com

A Brief History of Feng Shui

Feng Shui (pronounced as "fung schway") literally translated means "wind and water." It is an ancient Chinese art and science of placement and arranging objects and space within the environment so as to achieve harmony and balance. The object is promote and nurture the flow of good Chi (pronounced "chee",) which is a Chinese word similar to "energy" in English.

Feng Shui is not simply a decorating style. In fact, it is a discipline with rules and guidelines that can be adapted to fit with many different decorating styles. Truly it is a belief system which combines many different religious, geographical, astrological, mathematical, and philosophical ideas, as well as aesthetic values.

The origins of the term Feng Shui have been said to come from the Jin Dynasty (265-420.) In the Burial Book written by Guo Pu, Chi rides the wind and stops at the boundary created by the water. Ancient Chinese believed in manipulating the Chi so that it was directed with purpose and not wasted. Since this art and science was based on the wind and water, the term Feng Shui was born.

Today, it is a widely held belief that all Feng Shui books were burned during the Qin dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC.) One of the most authoritative works on the subject was written by Huang Shi Gong and given to Zhang Liang during the latter part of the Qin dynasty. Later, in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907,) Yang Yun Song and his disciples wrote several books on the subject. Those particular works are the most authoritative work used by all Feng Shui schools. Unfortunately, the books were very cryptic and used knowledge largely passed down through the oral tradition.

Feng Shui is also believed to be intuitive and derivable from our own common sense and our sense of what is natural in our environment. Eitel, a German Missionary in China in the latter half of the 19th century, wrote in his work, Feng-Shui, Or, The Rudiments Of Natural Science In China(1873), that the origin of Feng Shui is a belief system that is unique to the writings of Chu His and other writers from the Song dynasty (1126-1278.) Chu His is more well known for influencing Confucianism, and while his writings and commentaries may have become the foundation for Feng Shui, Feng Shui's roots truly go back as far as original Chinese Philosophy.

By the mid 19th century, Feng Shui had become such a part of life that the Chinese government published all the materials necessary for use in the practice of Feng Shui. In fact, as English speaking settlers came to China in the mid 19th century, they had a difficult time adapting to the way of Feng Shui. Much like modern day contractors have to conform to building codes and other community rules and regulations, the English settlers had difficulties in construction and renovation because their design ideas did not conform to the Feng Shui principles, and were therefore rejected.

Further early introduction of Feng Shui to westerners did not go well either. When foreigners wanted to purchase land, and those foreigners were not welcome, they would be directed to land that did not lend itself to good Feng Shui. Early western writings on the subject of Feng Shui were equally as unkind. In 1885, one author wrote that "if any one wishes to see what a howling wilderness of erratic dogmatism the human mind can arrive, when speculation usurps the place of science, and theories are reverenced equally with facts, let him endeavour to fathom even the elementary principles of that abyss of insane vagaries, the science of Feng-Shui."

Over the last few decades, many English books have been published on the topic of Feng Shui. They usually focus on interior design, decorating, architecture, or landscape design. Reception from English audiences has often been skeptical, particularly towards the use of crystals, wind chimes, fountains, and mirrored balls. Claims that Feng Shui can improve one's life, finances, and relationships are dismissed by some as mythology and new age mysticism. Still, others in the west have adapted Feng Shui to their own lives and report overwhelming positive benefits.

Charles Chang is a Feng Shui enthusiast and author. He enjoys helping others with feng shui tips through his articles and website.

Feng Shui: Energizing The Home

One often overlooked aspect of Feng Shui is how intangible, invisible, energy can effect a home?s environment and the occupant?s emotional state and health.

While the whole concept of this may appear to be ?hog wash? or ?superstitious mumbo-jumbo?, then you need to read this article and learn how to use an ancient art to improve the look and feel of your home, without breaking your budget.

Energy can take invisible forms. It works with the invisible energy in a home and can vary depending on the season. In the outdoors, energy flows freely, taking the road of least resistance. A building captures energy and traps it.

This energy resides in different parts of the home, effecting the feel and mood of the rooms. The principles of the spatial and temporal dimensions of a building have created a method called the Flying Stars System. This lets Feng Shui masters identify and evaluate the invisible energy in the home.

The flying star system breaks a home into a tic tac toe grid. This grid determines the rooms that have the strongest positive energy and those that have the negative energy.

Home decorators who take time to learn this type of decorating will find some startling facts. Despite the fact that the system uses ancient techniques, many of today?s homes are built on a similar scale.

Most new homes have the master bedroom at the front corner of the home ? as apposed to a room in the middle of the home, where negative energy is strongest. The center square is the living room. In many of today?s home designs, the house is built around a center entrance way that leads into a living room.

Our kitchens are also placed in a back corner of the home. This may imply that while Americans are unconscious of the fact, they are instinctively following the energy patterns of their home.

How can this benefit the average person? Many people are suffering from diseases that have no origin. Even if moving from one bedroom to another will not heal a person, it may reduce stress and a negative impact.

Whether the flying star system tracks loose ions in the home, or energy that escapes from our many electrical appliances, is not understood. What is understood is that many people are finding relief from stress and pain by moving from one room to another in the home.

If a homeowner can get over the ancient Chinese classifications like ?flow of prosperity?, ?promoting wealth?, and references to the year that a building was constructed, it is possible to glean some practical benefits from the study of the flow of energy in a home.

In many cases, feng shui will help home owners create a home that balances with the surrounding landscape.

One thing we do understand, art has a dramatic impact on people?s emotions and well-being. To view feng-shui as the science of turning a home and the surrounding environment into a ?work of art? than you?ll be able to reap the full benefits of managing the home?s energy and its affect on the homes occupants.

Patricia Taylor advises on home furnishings and decor from her web site at http://www.fireplacescreenshere.com She invites you to get her FREE home decorating guide here http://www.exteriorshuttershere.com